Blue Lights
by eugeoyuu
Summary: Things don't go as planned when Amaya Shizuru ends up trapped in a fight-to-the-100th-floor-to-leave game where zero HP meant a dead Shizuru. (storyline changes severely, oc is not useless but not overpowered, Kirito remains single!)
1. The Lizardman

November 6, 2022, 11pm. Aincrad 1st Floor, Horunka Cave.

A dark-cloaked figure stared emotionlessly at her opponent. The Lizardman snarled and without a second's notice, lunged forward with its crude stone sword. Her hood fell back to reveal two strands of silver flowing hair as the girl jumped to the side, barely dodging the vertical slash which grazed her shoulder. A green bar in the top right of the girl's vision reduced. She grimaced. The Lizardman noticed its miss from a few metres away and snarled.

Without hesitation, she drew three needle-like projectiles from her cloak and launched them with great accuracy. The throwing picks found their target, landing squarely on the Lizardman's forehead. The sharp needles depleted the remaining silver of the Lizardman's health bar. With a cry, the Lizardman shattered into sparkling blue shards and dissipated without a trace.

"..." Angela relaxed her battle stance. "That's it for today."

It was Night in Aincrad. Yet here she was honing her accuracy in throwing picks, though back in the real world she did have the habit of pulling all-nighters.

It was not all that different this time, for this second-year junior high school girl. Some homework simply had to be done before the next day, and as the model student she was she found it in her to complete them. Although, some nights spent awake were merely due to her nightmares, which occurred rather frequently.

Angela reached her hand into her coat absentmindedly, and found herself taking out a blue crystal.

"..." She stopped her hand midair. By then, her eyes were half-lidded and was feeling fuzzy-headed from the lack of sleep. It appeared staying up late also affected her in ways similar to that of the real world, except she didn't have her favourite caffeine boost, coffee. Angela mumbled a few words, "...save this for later..." and checked her status.

Despite numerous slain Lizardman, a glance at the top left of her vision showed her HP bar was barely reduced and she had her barely-used sword that was still durable.

Thepoor worn-out girl drew out the trusty single-handed blade as she headed in the direction of the exit. As she was not using them as targets for throwing pick practice, this time, she did not have to hold back. With her skill, the Lizardman stood no match for her. Angela readied her battle stance, as her sword glowed a bright blue. She allowed her body to be guided by the system-assist.

Finishing the last Lizardman with a halfhearted slash, she fumbled her way back to the outskirts of town. An inviting carpet of grass presented itself into view. Without another thought, she decided that it would make a comfortable bed and fell fast asleep.

It was not hours ago that she was having boring lessons that never seemed to end -- Ms Sato recited an old saying from a history textbook, students passed along paper notes, before the school bell finally chimed. And not that long ago did she finally get home, plugged in the Nerve Gear, and started up her most anticipated game. The only difference was, it was not any other game. That game was the first ever of its kind, also hopefully the last VRMMORPG-turned death-game, Sword Art Online.


	2. Home

November 6 2022, 3pm. Light rain drizzled in a small residential district in Japan, Kyoto.

"I'm home." Shiro mumbled bitterly as he stepped in. It didn't feel like home to the first year middle school boy, however. As usual, Shiro was not surprised to be greeted with silence.

Ruffling off the rain water on his white spiky hair, Shiro heaved a sigh. A set of female school shoes caught his eye. His sister must be home already.

Walking past a few empty rooms, Shiro paused outside his sister's room. Light shone through the outlines of the door. He raised his first, hands poised to knock.

The uncertainty in his chest changed his mind. Turning away quickly, Shiro entered his room and closed the door.

The pitter-patter of rain intensified, as the dark clouds gathering cast Shiro's room in a shade of grayscale. Shiro swept aside the clutter of manga books and cup noodle packets on the floor and pulled out box from underneath his bed. Unpacking it, he read the instructions to operate the world's first virtual reality device with his left hand as he grabbed the Nerve Gear out of the box with his right. The metal felt cold to his touch. Freezingly cold, but not as cold as the relationship between him and his sister. Nothing could compare to that.

Plugging in the game disk of the newly released Sword Art Online, Shiro wore the helmet-shaped device.

"Link, start." he muttered.

Multiple bright colours flashed in his vision, and he closed his eyes reflexively.

His vision cleared to the bustling streets of a classic medieval town. The colours and lights seemed so real, yet surreal in that instant. Each and every detail of the world flooded in through the Nerve Gear in the form of gigabytes, feeding his six senses. The fantastic detail of the virtual world was astounding.

Hearing the chatter of NPCs and players, and feeling the material of his armour, Shiro felt a warmth in his chest. He stretched out his hands and breathed deeply, taking in his first breath of the virtual world, a world void of the harshness of his life. It was time to start anew, albeit a life in a virtual world.


	3. GM Annoucement

The silence was deafening. Tens and billions of frightened faces looked up at the purple cloak emanating the voice of the Game Master.

A girl stood still, face expressionless. None of the players had entered the game to be stuck in a life or death situation, where death in the virtual world spelt death in the real world. Many of the said players have their mouths opened, gapingly wide, their jaws frozen into place.

Kayaba must be a fool, she thought. By pulling off such a stunt to fulfill his dream of a world that was his, he could have the Nerve Gear banned and its development halted. How insane.

The white hair girl's face appeared impassive, however her trembling fist by her sides gave away her feelings of uncertainty and fear.

Now her life was in the hands of the mechanisms of a game. Her very life was now subject to the wimps of an RPG, not withstanding the need to grind dungeons, earn money (col it was called in this game), and clear boss battles without dying even once. It was downright unfair.

She steadied her trembling hands on the grip of her Anneal Blade and felt glad that she had cleared the quest early. The silver hilt gleamed in the reflection to the bleeding red warning signs that restricted the players in the area.

"... a gift for you... in your inventory." Gasps filled the square as the players opened the item. A flash of light enveloped Angela too as she was her in-game customised black hair faded sliver, and her chest adjusted itself to become flatter.

Angela's thoughts were too preoccupied, however, to be distracted by the exclamations of surprise. Her eyes zoned out, plotting her next plans to advancing the game. She was not going to lose, her determination flared in her chest.


	4. Silica

A breeze blew gently through the village of Horunka.

Angela set up with a start, cursing Kayaba Akihiko a most treacherous death. Her dream reminded her of the emotions she felt at that moment. In the face of this challenge, there were only two possible reactions -- to cover in fear or to level up and get through this alive. As the pragmatic person she was, Angela chose the latter.

"A-Ah-! You're awake..."

She startled to hear a voice beside her. Confused amethyst eyes met wide red eyes framed by two tails of light brown hair.

"Who are you?" The young face looked familiar, but Angela couldn't place it in her mind.

"Ayano Keiko!" The girl pouted. "You don't remember me, Shizuru- senpai?"

"Oh, Keiko." Angela thought hard. "You helped me with the student council work every afternoon--"

Her memories from elementary school had been clouded up by more recent ones, but the image of that cheery face popped up in her mind.

Angela was used to receiving most of the student council work as the student council president -- this meant she often stayed in school to complete the paper work. Two years below her age, Keiko always stopped by the student council room to help out. Although Keiko was not a great help, but when she was around, Angela somehow found it easier to settle things faster. Especially when persuading male-dominated clubs to agree to budget cuts.

"Thanks, Keiko-chan," A rare smile crept up Angela's face as she tousled Keiko's soft brown hair.

"... it's Silica," Keiko, or by the character name Silica, blushed, looking down. "No, it was mostly senpai who did most of the work... I only helped because I wanted to."

"No one would want to waste away their afternoons doing boring paper work." Angela said bluntly, as she wiped the drool off her face. "Why are you here?"

"As straightforward as usual, senpai." Silica let out a playful smile. "Sleep PK is on the rise. You mustn't sleep in the open, senpai."

Hearing the words, Angela's face froze. She knew, player killing, PK, was part of most games she played. But to kill in a world that meant death?

"That's what someone told me. A red bandana katana user..." Silica continued.

The word "pervert" floated to the top of her mind for some unknown reason.

Shaking off the thought, her mind returned to sleep PK. While safe areas prevented damage to players, it was possible to lift the finger of a sleeping victim to accept a duel. The victim would be unaware and unable to protect themselves.

"Thanks Silica, I was careless." Angela ruffled Silica's soft hair again.


End file.
